Meanwhile the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa’s cost has risen to around £450 million – the cost of one mile of HS2 track.
The HS2 project has caused massive disruption and will be of doubtful benefit to anyone north or south of the Border. The aircraft carriers have become a bottomless money pit and are already unreliable sitting ducks of doubtful strategic use.
Meanwhile the Glen Sannox will be operational very shortly, the Glen Rosa will be completed, and both ferries will be put to good use for the people of the Scottish islands.
I wonder what most folk would consider the most useful and best value for money: ferries, aircraft carriers or HS2?
Not to mention the multi-billion-pound criminal waste of money that is the Covid PPE scandal.
C Corstorphine, Kilbirnie.
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Way forward for Anas Sarwar
AS he watches his party’s poll ratings plunge from the high point which gained it seats at the 2024 General Election, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar must surely realise that the votes in July were cast against the SNP rather than in favour of Labour.
With the impact of the relentless UK media smear campaign against the Scottish Government and the endless police investigation into SNP finances now fading, Mr Sarwar’s Westminster bosses are doing their best to torpedo any hopes he had of becoming First Minister in 2026.
He says Scotland needs a change of direction but gives no hint of what new direction he has in mind. There is a way forward for him if he is brave enough to cast off the shackles of unionism and set his sights on becoming the first Prime Minister of an independent European Scottish nation which would no longer have its international policy dictated by the USA and Labour Friends of Israel.
Scottish Labour, wearing those new clothes, would be unstoppable.
Willie Maclean, Milngavie.
Wake-up call for the SNP
THE chaos in the UK economy is not a surprise. Rachel Reeves’ unfathomable Budget set the scene.
Prior to Labour winning the election our economy was growing, inflation was under control and the markets were relatively happy. Now the exact opposite is unfolding. This is exactly the scenario Scotland would face if it ever voted for independence.
Politicians make promises and claim great things but the reality is far different. If the current turmoil is not a wake-up call to rash promises from some Scottish politicians just think how much worse it would be if we also had our own Scottish currency. This is a lesson that perhaps the SNP and Greens might actually like to learn.
Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.
Irresponsible spending
CALUM Macleod is sadly understating the position regarding health boards in Scotland. His letter (January 9) highlighting there being 17 is light by five as there are in fact 22. All for a population of around 5.5 million – equating to one board for every 250,000 people.
By contrast, Wales – population 3.3m – has seven boards, or one per 470,000 people; England – population 57m – has 42 boards, or one per 1.3m. It is clear which country has the most profligate governance.
Aside from the cost of 22 Chairs, 22 Chief Executives, 22 HR Directors etc, there is a staggering total of more than 250 non-executive directors across these boards (25 in Glasgow alone), costing around £5m per annum. No organisation outwith the public sector would tolerate such a structure.
Will the SNP ever wake up to the reality of its irresponsible spending, or is the reality that it is happy to squander the highest taxes in the UK simply to retain jobs and votes?
Steph Johnson, Glasgow.
Anas Sarwar (Image: Getty) If Aslef ran ScotRail…
I SEE that Aslef wants ScotRail to be in the public sector but at the same time to receive favourable treatment when it comes to pay negotiations (“Union Aslef issues warning to Scottish Government ahead of ScotRail pay talks”, The Herald, January 8). I suggest a referendum into who should run ScotRail. I would vote for Aslef so they can wake up and smell the (ScotRail) coffee.
Scott Simpson, Bearsden.
Scots missing out on NHS app
SINCE 2019 in England, NHS patients have been able to access advice and services through an app.
Patients there can access the GP appointments, records, results, and order repeat prescriptions.
The latest, we hear, is that the NHS app is to be upgraded to allow more patients in England to book treatments and appointments.
These changes will allow patients who need non-emergency elective treatment to choose from a range of providers, including those in the private sector.
For Scotland I can only find an NHS 24 app which gives advice and is now 17 years old.
Am I missing something, or is it patients in Scotland who are missing out?
Gail Addis, Glasgow.
A bleak New Year in Gaza
IT was interesting to read the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) report on the first week of the New Year:
• At least 74 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza: there have been several “mass casualty events”, including night-time attacks in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and the so-called al-Mawasi “safe zone”; five children were killed there.
• More than a million children are living in makeshift tents.
• Since December 26, eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia.
• The number of trucks with aid allowed by Israel to enter Gaza remains “woefully insufficient to meet the most basic needs of families”.
• Kamal Adwan Hospital, which had been the only operational medical facility and the sole hospital in northern Gaza with a pediatric unit, is no longer functional following Israeli destruction.
Welcome to the world of Israeli barbarism.
B McKenna, Dumbarton.
Inhumane neoliberalism
IF I were given an opportunity to explain why I have continued to read The Herald over some 65 years I would have no hesitation whatsoever in pointing to the excellent quality of much of the content of the Herald Voices pages.
I am prompted to write in these terms having read Neil Mackay’s splendid article headed “War on literature heralds the new barbarism” (The Herald, January 9), his thesis being reinforced by the pointer to the article on your front page, “These moronic bans on great works of literature are cultural vandalism”.
I hope that the politicians and educators who seek to implement an educational system which promotes the “new barbarism” read not only Neil Mackay’s article but eight verses of Alfred Lord Tennyson from his poem In Memoriam, a selection known as “Ring out, wild bells” which were very recently drawn to my attention and from which I quote selectively: “Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky. Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the feud of rich and poor, ring in redress to all mankind. Ring in the love of truth and right, ring in the common love of good, ring out the narrowing lust of gold. Ring in the valiant man and free, the larger heart, the kindlier hand.”
A splendid prospectus for a political cause seeking to subvert inhumane neoliberalism.
John Milne, Uddingston.
• I OFTEN feel that my constant pushing back on the breaching of healthy boundaries in society is merely a symptom of my growing, age-related grumpiness. However, my anxiety was somewhat relieved on reading Neil Mackay’s views on the demise of respect shown to literature.
He highlights the potential loss of the great richness held in the educational value of fiction. If we continue to pander to the often-subjective offence taken towards views which differ from what appear to be the accepted norm today, we risk losing the ability to make the right choices because we will be left with nothing to choose from. We need to acknowledge past mistakes we have learned from and recognise those we must still address. Baby and bathwater spring to mind.
John O’Kane, Glasgow.
• I’M in a state of shock. I actually agreed with something Neil Mackay wrote.
Michael Watson, Rutherglen.